PRIMARY DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
Development and Management of EMEA Digital Strategy
- Develop and implement a conversion‑led, performance‑focused paid media marketing mix for Choice Hotels in EMEA, leveraging cost‑efficient platforms to maximise Direct Online bookings, revenue and room nights across franchise markets.
- Acquire website traffic through paid and owned media channels while continuously optimising conversion rate, booking value and return on investment, with a strong focus on middle to lower marketing funnel performance.
Execution of EMEA Digital Strategy
- Leverage relevant digital performance marketing channels including but not limited to paid search, paid social, programmatic display and metasearch, with a focus on sophisticated targeting and efficiency rather than volume alone.
- Oversee the planning, creation, and execution of tactical marketing campaigns aimed at growing direct bookings and revenue for 470+ hotels in the EMEA region. This includes online campaigns, email marketing, social media marketing, and programmatic display advertising.
- Manage relationships with key partner agencies and advertising partners including Google, Tripadvisor, Trivago, and Koddi, ensuring performance and cost efficiency objectives are adhered to, and the partnerships generate new opportunities to drive incremental business and channel shift.
- Coordinate with the Choice Privileges program teams to ensure digital marketing channels adhere to and target loyalty programme members within the region wherever relevant, supporting repeat bookings and lifetime value growth.
- Shape the EMEA SEO and content strategy, ensuring hotel and destination content is optimised to drive qualified traffic, support paid media efficiency, and contribute to long‑term organic growth.
Budget Management, Forecasting and Reporting
- Own annual forecasting and strategic allocation of a €1M+ EMEA digital marketing budget, working in close partnership with the Senior Manager, Digital Marketing, Loyalty & Communication to ensure optimal and sustained maximisation of return on ad spend (ROAS) across channels.
- Analyse and report on the performance of digital marketing campaigns and channel activity, using data and metrics to identify areas for improvement and drive optimisation. Provide tailored insights and recommendations to multiple stakeholders.
- Ensure franchisees are aligned with Choice Hotels' digital marketing framework by collaborating with the Franchise Performance team to monitor adherence and present reports on current hotels or portfolio performance to franchisees.
- Monitor and share data-based trends and market insights to ensure we not only remain competitive, but more importantly stay relevant with our target audience(s).
Team Management and Collaboration
- Manage a team of digital marketing associates, providing guidance, support and direction as needed and encourage their growth and development and lead them to become a guiding influence in the digital space for our franchisees.
- Develop objectives, targets, and budgets, while maintaining oversight of the execution and achievement of plans.
- Collaborate with other teams within the organisation, especially the Commercial and Franchise Performance teams, to ensure that digital marketing efforts are aligned with overall business goals and objectives and fully support our franchisees in the region.
- Work in partnership with the Ecommerce and Digital Marketing teams within the US and International organisation to make the most of global opportunities and economies of scale while ensuring channel marketing and content is aligned with overall company objectives.
SKILLS, EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor's or master's degree in business, marketing or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
- 5+ years of progressive experience in digital performance marketing, ideally within travel, hospitality, or similarly complex, multi‑market industries.
- Demonstrated management experience of 2+ years, managing internal teams and/or agency partners at a regional or international level.
- Proven ownership of large‑scale digital marketing budgets (€800k+ annually), including responsibility for strategic investment decisions, performance delivery, and financial accountability.
- Strong track record of developing, managing and implementing successful multi-channel campaigns for multiple countries/portfolios, with extensive experience in third-party agency management.
- Advanced understanding of digital platforms, analytics (web, media & social), and paid media elements. Preferable experience working with Adobe Analytics and Adobe Experience Manager (AEM).
- Highly numerate and expert in using programs such as Excel, PowerPoint, Google Data Studio, Google Analytics and comfortable in manipulating and analysing complex data.
- Strong understanding of various digital marketing channels, including paid search, metasearch, email marketing, social media, and display advertising.
